Working with Weaver II–Part 3
One of the big problems with customising themes is that the theme’s core files have to be modified.
So you spend a happy few hours modifying style.css and you get the site looking just as you wish. Then along comes an update to the theme which nicely overwrites your customised style.css and you are back to where you started.
Of course you should have a backup of your customised file, but suppose the update included the theme author’s updates to style.css?
As I have already pointed out, Weaver has the facility to insert your own code (CSS or HTML) into the header or footer of the site without any file editing.
An example of this is in the layout of the nested comments on the theme. I felt that the reply to a comment wasn’t indented enough, and could lead to some confusion, as it wasn’t immediately obvious whether a comment was a new comment in its own right, or a reply to a previous comment.
The obvious way was to modify the style.css file but I went the route of adding an insert of some CSS into the Header in the (Advanced) Admin area –
.commentlist li.comment, #respond {
margin-left: 15px !important;
}
This had the desired effect. The effect is small but significant enough to improve readability –
Since I made that modification, there has been an update to the Weaver theme. I applied the update and all my modifications remained intact.
Another hugely significant feature is that in the event of catastrophic failure I only need three things –
- A database dump (mailed to me daily via a plug in)
- A copy of the images I have created
- A tiny XML file which Weaver creates and which contains all the modifications I have applied to the theme, including code inserts.
Every other item I need can be downloaded from the Internet.
Not many themes can do that?!
Hi Other Fella!
Just having a look at the Weaver theme meself! Can't remember if the sidebar colour extended down to the footer in the previous incarnation of headrambles, but if you want to see what it would look like try adding the following to the custom CSS rules for the 'Primary sidebar'.
{margin-bottom: -9000px; padding-bottom: 9000px;}
It's an interesting theme – debating whether to move away from atahualpha, which is also stuffed with user options, but is built using tables so doesn't have that 'responsive' flavour.
😉
Mick
Hi Mick!
Thanks for that suggestion – worked a treat, and it looks a good bit tidier as a result.
I have installed Weaver on five sites now, and I have still to find a single problem with it! Probably the greatest testament is that an update became available which I installed from the dashboard. The update went without a hitch but the big feature is that it didn't break anything. Customising a theme almost invariably means that the customisations are lost during an update unless child themes are used.
Possibly the only drawback to Weaver is its learning curve. There are so many items that can be modified, that some may find it a bit daunting. Persistence pays huge dividends though.
I just had a peek at Starship and I would imagine it would be an easy enough job to switch.
Yep. I've got a test domain running with it at the moment – look is almost identical to the live one. Just trying out a few different plugins – thinking i may as well tidy up and add a few new features at same time.
I'm tempted to try and hack the theme code – see if i can get it to pull in the CSS from an external file instead of inline. Does mean updates need more managing though.
Gets addictive doesn't it!
Mick
indeed it does!
Incidentally, if you are playing around with plugins, take a look at this. It's a great little addition to the toolkit, and great for weeding out the site-draggers.
Jeez that's handy. I had Jetpack installed as a test! Didn't like the fact that it forced you to use their comments system though. Having a second look at Disqus at the moment. Will run everything through P3 and see what happens – mucho thanks for that.
That sidebar margin / padding trick might not be so good after all. Being messin' around here leaving comments on my test setup, and it's throwing up a prob – when the screen refreshes after entering a comment it only shows the comment (and not the post). Removed the CSS and the prob goes away.
Not sure if the same thing is happening on headrambles? I'll go and leave a comment now and see what happens (hang on….!)…
Ok, same prob there – you might want to remove the offending CSS – sorry bout that.
Woops – and back to the drawing board!
Heh! No worries. It's having a very strange effect on Rambles – not exactly breaking anything but under certain conditions it just displays the comments. The kind of effect you couldn't create if you wanted to do it deliberately!!
Nice comment, by the way! Thanks.
Sidebar colour to footer – take two!
Ok, it was bugging me so had to persevere…
Under 'Main Options / General Appearance / Main Area BG / Custom CSS Styling' try…
{background: #F5F5DC !important;}
The colour flows to the bottom of the sidebar, and the background colours for the other content areas take precedent in their own right so it has the desired effect.
The colour does also show on a thin line above the whole footer area – probably a padding setting for the footer or one of the other DIVs – so will be looking at that next.
Anyway, couldn't go by without reporting back!
🙂